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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24395476">On the Way to Kalm</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/holysmotez/pseuds/holysmotez'>holysmotez</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cloti - Freeform, Deleted Scenes, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Kalm (Compilation of FFVII), Spoilers, Tifa's POV, Unresolved Romantic Tension, everyone else has figured it out, more of an 'after' game scene, road to Kalm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:54:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24395476</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/holysmotez/pseuds/holysmotez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>While on the way to Kalm after the events of Midgar, the group camps for the night, and Tifa learns she can't keep the secrets of her heart from anybody, not even their talking canine companion.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>224</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>On the Way to Kalm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is some Cloti fluff I needed to write and get out on a page for the benefit of my own soul, set just after the events of FF7R.  </p><p>Although I usually try to polish my fics up myself as much as possible, I wrote this pretty much in a single day and decided to publish it without fussing too much.  It doesn't feel like it needs me to, and I hope you'll agree.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Under the dome of the open sky, a light rain pelts down on them, and soaks into the barren earth.  She can’t remember the last time she felt real rain against her skin.  </p><p>Logically, it must have been over five years ago.  Five years of living in the slums meant being sheltered from the natural flow of weather and seasons.  After so long living underneath the plate, she didn’t know water that didn’t come from a pipe, or sunlight that didn’t come from a lamp.  </p><p>But after defying fate - quite literally - she felt born again, in a way.  She raises her chin, sighing as she relishes the coolness massaging her skin.  She relishes not just the rain, but breathing in fresh air not filled with smog.  Through breaks in the clouds, natural rays of sunlight nourish her skin and her spirit further.</p><p>Aerith shudders and sighs next to her.</p><p>“What’s wrong?”  </p><p>Aerith shakes her head.  “Nothing’s wrong.  It’s just...so <em>much</em>.”</p><p>She tries to empathize, but if these natural elements were this intense to her as a regular human, she can’t imagine what it must be like for Aerith’s attuned Ancient senses.  </p><p>Meanwhile, Barret, too, indulges in his own form of relish.  He inhales deeply every few steps, shouting to the birds in the sky that this is what they’re fighting for.  Amused by his boisterous outbursts, his enthusiasm seems like a welcome distraction enough for Aerith, who skips ahead to join him in stride next to him.  And Cloud - always a few paces ahead - grumbles and tosses back an occasional <em>will you knock it off?</em> and <em>are you seriously going to do this the whole time?</em></p><p>Amused herself, and even though she smiles at their mischief, she has to agree with Aerith. Glancing up, the broad sky does little more than remind her of the terrifying freedom and unknown they embarked upon.  It is <em>so much</em>, and all the more daunting ever since they met and defied their predestined fates.</p><p>But when she looks around to her companions, rather than up to the sky, the dread dissolves, and her heart burns with a fierce resolve.  No amount of rain could snuff it out now.  Clutching a fist to her chest as she walks, she thinks she could endure any unknown for the people she loves, and brave any challenge, so long as she has them by her side.  </p><p>And ahead, she finds him.  Raindrops speckle and snake down the weathered steel of the greatsword at his back.  Even if the sky were to fall, and the ground were to fall away, she would find a way to continue on, so long as he was near.  </p><p>“You two holdin’ up okay back there?” Barret shouts over his shoulder.</p><p>“Just fine,” she replies.</p><p>Red XIII, whom she still can’t quite wrap her head around as a real, living being, saunters up next to her, matching her pace.</p><p>“Doing alright, Red?” she asks, while Barret turns to Aerith and goes off on another gladdened speech.</p><p>“Yes.  And you, Tifa?”</p><p>“I’m good.  Hard to believe I’m saying this, but I’m feeling better than ever now that we’ve left Midgar.  The rain, the air, the sun. After years of living under a plate, I had nearly forgotten what all of these things felt like.”</p><p>Red grunts, nodding with his concurrence.  “That is no surprise.  Midgar is a place where life goes to wither, after all.  Spend enough time there, and it’s easy to forget what it was like to flourish.”</p><p>“Yeah,” she admits.</p><p>They stride together in an easy silence.  Ahead of them, Aerith laughs at something Cloud says to her, and playfully whaps him on the shoulder.  She doesn’t like how her heart constricts.  They were her friends.  Her best friends.  So why did it hurt so much sometimes to see them so close together?</p><p>“I have been meaning to ask.  Just out of curiosity, how long have you and Cloud been mates?”</p><p>Red’s voice cuts through her thoughts like a sword, and his question upends them like a blow from a mallet.  She sputters, her full attention whipping over to the creature walking beside her.  “W-what?” she says, dumbly.</p><p>“Oh, am I mistaken?  It seemed like a reasonable assumption, especially given your behaviors back at Shinra HQ.”</p><p>“What ‘behaviors’?”</p><p>“Most notably, the ease of your mutual cooperation in seeing our pack through the Drum, and yet again on the road.  Then there was your insistence on going back for him on the rooftop.”</p><p>“Um-,” she starts, flustered,  “No, we’re not...together like that.  He’s just a friend. We grew up in the same hometown.”</p><p>“I see.  Then please forgive my presumption.  I sometimes forget that human courtship behaviors are much less...straightforward, shall we say.”</p><p>“Courtship?” </p><p>“Indeed.  Where I come from, sincere shows of strength, loyalty, and dedication to one another, and to the pack, is a rather clear pledge of intent.  You both took to your roles as pack leaders quite readily.”</p><p>“Our roles, huh?”</p><p>“As matriarch and patriarch, yes.  Even if you are not mates, you seem to hold complete trust for one another as if you were.”</p><p>“Uh, well-,” Tifa stammers again, heat and embarrassment fully engulfing her face.  “You’re right, then.  It is more complicated for us than where you’re from.”</p><p>“Yes, I can see that,” he says, pointing with his chin ahead of them.</p><p>There, Cloud has his gaze following Aerith as she skips ahead of them.  <em>Be careful!</em> he calls out to her.  </p><p>Red says, “But I wouldn’t worry.  She knows, too.”</p><p>“Knows what?”</p><p>Red chuckles, but doesn’t answer her question.  He merely picks up his pace, leaving her to stew with the words they had shared between them.</p><p>She doesn’t miss the way Barret glances back, and seems to chuckle to himself at nothing.</p>
<hr/><p>By consensus, they decide to head for Kalm as the first logical place for them to rest and recollect after everything they had overcome in their escape from Midgar.  She had never visited herself, but Barret describes it as a once-thriving township, built on a bluff overlooking the northern coastline.  The nearby harbor along the shore was one of the most active commercial ports on the continent, before the completion of Midgar changed all of that.  </p><p><em>Road</em> might have been a generous term for the slightly smoother depression in the cracked soil that linked Midgar with its far more quaint and humble neighbor. It stretches to the horizon like a healed-over scar cut through the dusty expanse of desiccated earth.  Old signs for KALM dot the way-- some barely hanging from the screws of their posts, some chewed and riddled with bullet holes, and the rest in an otherwise dire state of disrepair.  </p><p>After a brief debate, as a group they decided that sticking near the road, although not travelling directly on it, was worth the increased risk of detection by Shinra.  It was better than the risk of wasting their newly hard-fought, self-directed fates on wandering too long in the wilderness and dying from monsters or exposure.  Barret promises, if his memory serves, that it’d take less than a day and a half to reach the safety of Kalm on foot.  With little else for it, they press onward.  </p><p>Eventually, the blighted land surrounding Midgar opens up into a lush, grassy meadow.  The effects of wild nature on their awakened senses become even more astonishing.  The rainclouds had since parted as the sun marched across the sky, and dewy grass licks at her calves.  The scent of wildflowers draws out another fresh wave of awe.  </p><p>Walking away from Midgar and its outskirts, and from the Destiny it held for her, felt like walking free from a tomb.  She truly had been withering, and had not even realized.</p><p>They’re forced to stop when the last light of dusk begins to fade behind the horizon, and when Barret’s zeal sundowns into regular complaints about hunger, thirst, and sore feet.  Cloud, meanwhile, seemed less irritated by Barret’s complaints, and moreso for the fact that Barret spoke to what they all felt in the moment.  </p><p>Thus when a pack of Kalm Fangs crossed their paths, the hapless creatures had no idea what they were in for when they moved in to attack.  It wasn’t ideal, but their meat would have to suffice in the absence of any ordinary rations.  They didn't exactly have a chance to prepare themselves for the hike.</p><p>In a clearing a fair distance off the road, and far enough out of sight of any Shinra ground patrols, they start a campfire to cook their dinner and to stave off the chill of the nighttime breeze.  The flames crackle, it’s sparks soaring up to fade into the glitter of stars above.</p><p>After finishing her meal, she sits back on her hands, and indulges herself in gazing up at them.  She hadn’t seen such a clear, glittering sea of stars like this since...</p><p>She aborts that thought, huddling with her knees drawn up, focusing on the warmth of the fire instead.  It would be rough getting used to sleeping on the ground like this, but then again, she was having to get used to a lot of new circumstances lately.  It’s part of what she had agreed to on the road out of Midgar, and there was no use in regretting that choice now.</p><p>Barret must have been far more exhausted than he realized, because shortly after their meals, he collapses on his back into a snoring heap near the fire.  Next to him, Red curls up and falls into a fast slumber, too.  And if she were being honest, she was having a hard time fighting to stay awake, too.</p><p>She registers movement next to her.  She glances up to find Cloud peering down at her.  He says, “Go ahead and get some sleep.  I’ll be keeping watch.”</p><p>“What about you?” </p><p>He shrugs.  “SOLDIER, remember?  Don’t sleep much anyway.”</p><p>Her stomach turns, and not just from the recent change in diet.  Didn’t Hojo say something about how he wasn’t?  And why was she suddenly believing anything that Hojo said?</p><p>“Tifa?” Cloud asks, concern on his brow.</p><p>She shakes her head. “Sorry.  You’re right.  I think I do need some sleep.”</p><p>“Good.  I-, uh, we need you at your best, alright?”</p><p>“I know, and you too.  Wake me if you start getting tired, okay?  I’ll be happy to take over for you.”</p><p>He nods.  They both know he won’t, but he tells her anyway, “Will do.”</p><p>“Don’t worry, Tifa.  He might keep an eye on us, but I’ll keep an eye on him!”</p><p>Aerith speaks from her other side, peppy and bright-eyed, as if the concept of sleep never occurred to her.  While meant to be reassuring, her heart clenches again at the thought of the two of them being alone together while she sleeps soundly, and she no longer has the energy to pretend that discomfort isn’t there.</p><p>Cloud, though, says to Aerith “Don’t worry about me, either.  You should rest, too.  We’ve all been through hell and back.”</p><p>Her eyes droop instantly, having felt that statement down to her bones.  Even though her mind continues to race, and her heart continues to hurt, the minute she stretches out her body and lays her head against the ground, her eyes slip shut.</p>
<hr/><p>The next time she wakes, it’s to the warmth of the fire on her face.  Its blaze had reduced by half its intensity, and the stars still twinkle above.  The contented snores of her companions carry out across their little camp.</p><p>She’s surprised to find Aerith among her slumbering companions.  She makes use of one of Red’s haunches as a makeshift pillow, her chest rising and falling in soft snores.  Where was Cloud?</p><p>She gets up without making a sound, and looks all about the clearing and what was illuminated by the firelight.  Was he out patrolling, perhaps?  But it was so damn <em>dark.</em>  She squints out into patches of tall grass as she steps out beyond the golden ring of firelight.</p><p>She gambles further with more steps outside their settlement, until she has trouble even seeing the hands in front of her face.  She can’t help but glance up at the stars again as she walks, enraptured by the dazzling heavens above, like she couldn’t get enough of it now that she was out from under the plate.  She had missed the night sky, and-</p><p>She lurches.  Her toe bashes against something, tripping her up.  She curses, staggering forward in the dark.  She only just keeps herself from pitching forward and faceplanting into the hard ground.</p><p>“Tifa?”</p><p>Breath catching in her throat, she whips to her side, instinctively raising her fists.  She immediately lowers them when she meets Cloud’s eyes, shining with their mako-enhanced glow.  The rest of his form is all but wrapped in the shroud of night.</p><p>“Cloud,” she breathes, letting go of a breath.  “You startled me.”</p><p>“Sorry.  What are you doing?”</p><p>“I was looking for you.”</p><p>He sighs at her.  “In the dark?”</p><p>Scoffing, she says, “What about you?  And just how are you able to see where you’re going?”</p><p>“An effect of mako treatment is outstanding night vision.  Makes me the best suited for night watch, really.”</p><p>“Oh,” she says.  If she were being honest, it was a little eerie to only be able to make out only his eyes in that moment.  Two bright points, their mako-infused shine matching with the starlight like they were themselves celestial bodies hovering in the dark.</p><p>She shivers when the breeze picks up, and she senses how close he is by the way his body radiates next to her.  Or maybe it was just her imagination.  Red’s term of mates intrudes across her mind, and she’s suddenly quite grateful to be hidden by the dark. </p><p>“You alright?” he asks.</p><p>Wait, he couldn’t possibly see the color of her cheeks, too, could he?  Clearing her throat, she answers, “Yeah.  I guess I just can’t get used to being outside like this.  In the real outdoors.  And I haven’t seen stars like this since…”</p><p>“Since the well,” he finishes as she drops her sentence.  Her heart lodges in her throat as those eerie eyes drift skyward.  “It’s not quite the same, though, is it?”</p><p>A beat passes.  She says, “I suppose nothing is anymore.”</p><p>He huffs, darkly amused.  His eyes fall to the ground.  “Sometimes, I’m not so sure.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>When his eyes come back up to meet hers, they dart away again.  Almost shy.  </p><p>He says, “Maybe I’ll figure out how to say it one day.  But for now, come on.  Let’s get back to camp.  I’ll sit with you this time if it’ll help you sleep.”</p><p>Before she realizes it, his warm, firm hand has already slipped into hers, and she’s little more than a captive to it as he leads her out from the grass.  She prays that his mako-enhanced eyes can’t notice the way her pulse thuds under her chin, or how strangely her throat works around the word when she says, “Okay.”</p><p>He holds her hand until they return to the clearing, until the warmth of the dying fire caresses her legs, and she can see the rest of his form lit up in gold.  Despite the proximity of the campfire, she shivers anyway when his palm slides free.  As he sets his sword down and sits back onto his rear, she joins him on his right, tugging her knees up to her chest again.</p><p>“Go ahead and try to sleep. I’ll stay here,” he says to her, volume quiet enough as to not wake their companions.  He sits with his legs perpendicular, one knee bent towards her, his arm propped up on his other.</p><p>She’s not sure if she can follow with his suggestion with the way her heart still seems intent on beating out a steady rhythm against her ribs.  As they both gaze together into the fire, having this quiet moment with him feels so precious to her for reasons she can’t identify, let alone articulate.</p><p>“Not yet,” she whispers.  “Just a little longer.”</p><p>The fire snaps and pops.  Another beat between them passes.</p><p>“Alright,” he says.</p><p>Tifa turns her chin toward him. “Cloud?”</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>She’s not sure what draws her in.  His closeness, his warmth, his sheer presence having its own unique gravity.  But she tilts further until her temple touches the bare skin of his shoulder.  She almost regrets it when she senses him tense at the contact, but in the very next beat, the hard muscle underneath her temple relaxes.</p><p>“Is this okay?” she whispers, needing to make sure.</p><p>She hears the way his throat works around his next swallow.  </p><p>“Yeah,” he whispers back.</p><p>She wonders if she’s dreaming when, a moment later, she feels him lean his head against hers.  Her imagination must be playing tricks when she hears his breath draw in and out, steady and measured, the supposedly sleepless SOLDIER having sunk into a light doze.</p><p>But out of the corner of her own hazy eyes, she catches on a glint of gold.  There, a few feet across from them, Red's good eye catches her.  Catches them.  With a smirk on his whiskered lip, he curls back in to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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